Greeting Cards-The Story Behind

When was the last time you sent someone a greeting card? Was it Christmas? Was it New Year? Valentine’s maybe? And did you know that each time you give or send someone a card, you carry on a practice that dates back to ancient China? The tradition was common among the early Chinese who would send messages of good will in order to ward off bad luck.

In sending the cards, their main aim was to try to keep off Nien, a wild beast who was often spoken about in Chinese legends.Nien was believed to be a monster that would attack and kill people at the end of every year. To prevent these attacks, villagers would send each other cards with best wish messages, and also use loud noises and bright light to scare Nien away!

True luck consists not in holding the best of the cards at the table; 

       luckiest is he who knows when to rise and go home.

  -John Hay

Entry of the cards in Europe

By the early 13^th century, Europe had taken up the greeting card idea. Their cards were handmade and often, these pieces would incorporate illustrations done by hand. Besides, card makers had to do deliveries in person as well seeing as postal services were not in place yet. Obviously, the process was expensive and time consuming and because of this, those cards were not available to the masses. It was not until the 18^th century that mass production began and at that time, Christmas Cards and Valentine’s cards became very popular.

Commercialization of the cards

Three years after the postage stamp was introduced in 1840, greeting cards became commercialized and handmade cards were then overtaken by mass produced varieties. From then on, the cards were not just a reserve for those who had money; anyone who wanted a card could get one. Still, the oldest card which was a handmade valentine card created in early 1400s is currently found in London’s British Museum.

Where things stand today

Nowadays, sending cards is almost always a requirement especially for occasions such as Christmas, Valentine, Exams, and Mother’s and Father’s day. For many brides, Wedding cards are also a must-have. While some of these cards come printed; others are handmade and incorporate calligraphic messages written by hand as well.

Although Birthday, Christmas ,love and other greeting cards have been in the market for centuries, the selection available to customers now is incomparable. People can get cards in any theme, color, size and shape they like. There are even companies that focus on making heavy metal greeting cards with dark gothic images and all and while this may seem a bit overstretched, the fact that they’re ready buyers means the idea is not too overextended after all.